Holy Ground
by Smiley612
Summary: Demigods even have problems at a Camp Valentine's Day dance. Piper wants her first kiss, Annabeth's alone with strawberry punch, and attention's needed all around. One-shot; Post-Lost Hero; Jasper & bits of Percabeth.


_"Tonight I'm gonna dance like you were in this room, but I don't wanna dance if I'm not dancing with you."_

* * *

The soft music played through the speakers, so the beautiful melody could be heard throughout the clearing. There was not many people in this clearing – it had to be only twenty – or possibly less. Not many people stayed year-round anymore after the Titan War ended.

Jason was a few inches taller than Piper, so she had to look up the slightest bit to meet his eyes. Piper's arms were around his neck, and their feet moved in perfect harmony together to the music playing a few feet from them.

"This is nice," Piper whispered, and she meant it. Piper didn't particularly like it, but even she had to admit that the Aphrodite cabin was rubbing off on her slightest bit. Ever since her and Jason started dating, she'd wanted only one thing: a normal life. She wanted a normal life with her normal boyfriend at Camp Half-Blood, with no abnormal war raging on around them.

She realized later that it sounded selfish. Even though she hadn't _wanted_ to be one of the seven, she was. It was her responsibility, along with the six other demigods, to save the world from Gaea and make things right. Maybe she'd even have a normal life with Jason after things settled down. After all, she figured, she should be considered lucky she still _had_ Jason. She didn't ever want to be in Annabeth's position.

"Yeah," Jason whispered back. There wasn't a lot of people in this clearing; just a few people from different cabins and a few counselors. Piper and Jason didn't want everyone to hear their conversation, so they decided to whisper back and forth. "The stars are beautiful tonight."

Piper was reminded of a memory: a fake memory caused by the Mist. She remembered the fake day that she had gone onto the roof of the Wilderness School and shared her first kiss with Jason . . . a fake kiss.

But now she and Jason were building a real relationship, and nothing could be better.

"They are," Piper responded. She met Jason's blue eyes again, looking up ever so slightly, and they shared a meaningful look. And then, one centimeter at a time, she leaned up. Jason seemed to understand the gesture and bent down, inching closer and closer to Piper's lips, and Piper's heart raced a mile a minute as she thought "I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it, this is really happening" and then their lips were an inch apart and they –

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Everyone, listen up!"

Jason and Piper were torn from their moment by Emma, one of Piper's extremely obnoxious half-siblings. Piper groaned inwardly and awkwardly slipped out of her boyfriend's grasp, facing Emma in the middle of the clearing.

"I'm sorry to interrupt everyone," Emma began, "but because I issued this dance, I have the right to know how everyone is enjoying it!"

Emma's green eyes were bright with excitement and anticipation, but the exuberance in her expression faded when she heard nothing but silence.

"Well?" she screamed. "I want to know!" Emma spun around in a circle, eying the twenty people in the clearing who were dancing. They were all either dancing by themselves, with friends, or their dates. Her eyes scanned everyone, but they stopped their trail when they landed on Annabeth.

Annabeth was standing by the refreshments table, hunched over. Her blond hair fell messily around her shoulders in tangles. Piper couldn't see her stormy gray eyes, but she was sure they were as scary and as intimidating as ever.

Everyone in the clearing had gone back to dancing, but Emma smiled slyly and strode over to Annabeth. Piper cringed and looked away. She didn't want to see what would happen to Emma with Annabeth in a bad mood.

Piper turned back to Jason. "Sorry," she apologized, "my half-sisters are annoying sometimes. Especially Emma. Wait, scratch that. Especially the whole cabin. The whole –"

"Okay, I get it, Piper," Jason interrupted, but his smile told her he wasn't really annoyed.

This time, there was no one there to stop them. Emma was over by the refreshments table bothering Annabeth, and everyone else was dancing to the music. This time Piper honestly thought their lips were going to touch. Piper would actually kiss Jason for the first time since she met him.

I mean, they _had_ been dating for two months, ever since they got back from their quest in December. During that time, Jason didn't kiss her once and Piper was too cowardly to make the first move, but that was only because Jason continually mentioned another girl from the other camp – Reyna. Piper didn't know if Reyna and Jason had a thing or not, so she never tried to advance on him. Now, though, it would be magical, because first kisses are always amazing. Now they were moving towards each other and they were getting closer and as Piper got closer she saw that cute little scar on his lip and she knew that it was happening this time –

But of course, something had to happen again.

Somehow, Piper forgot that Leo was dancing by himself in the crowd of twenty people in the clearing. Now he interrupted Piper in most likely the _most important day in her entire teenage life_ and he was grinning like a madman.

"Hey, guys! Piper, what's up with your crazy half-sibling over by Annabeth?"

Piper craned her neck to look over at the refreshment table. She could see that Annabeth was trying to tell Emma something in her fierce voice, and eventually Emma backed away.

Leo snorted. "Hah. A child of beauty and love and a child of wisdom and planning. That can't be good," he said. "What does Annabeth have to do with love, anyway? Is she in love or something?"

Both of Jason and Leo's heads turned to Piper.

Piper groaned. "Just because I'm the daughter of the goddess of love does not mean I automatically know when someone's in love," she complained. Piper hesitated for a moment, and then she grimaced. "But yes, she does love somebody. You know her boyfriend, the guy who's missing?"

Both boys nodded.

"Well, this _is_ a couple's dance on Valentine's Day, the annual day of love. And the guy Annabeth loves is three thousand miles away with no memory of anything."

"She must be upset," Jason countered.

"Yeah . . ." Leo mused. He looked down at his suspenders for only a moment, and then he looked up again at the both of them. "I'm going to get a drink." he announced. Leo walked away.

Piper and Jason started to dance again.

"Hey, Pipes," Jason began, "I'm just curious. What would you do if I was in Annabeth's boyfriend's condition again, right now?"

She hesitated, unsure of how to answer. When she released her teeth from her upper lip she spoke. "To be honest, I'm not sure how Annabeth handles it so well. I asked her about her boyfriend a few weeks ago, and she told me she's known him for five years. _Five years_, Jason. They were best friends that ended up falling in love. I know I've only known you for a little more than two months, but you're important to me and I care about you. If I knew where you were but I couldn't go and get you, I'd be devastated. It would only make matters worse if I knew you didn't remember me . . . I wonder how Annabeth feels about Percy, the guy she's known for five years, knowing that he doesn't even remember his girlfriend."

"It must be hard for her," Jason sympathized. "But this is Annabeth we're talking about. She's strong and she holds her own. I'm sure she's upset and she gets sad when she thinks about the fact that her boyfriend has no memories and he doesn't even remember his best friend."

"Yeah . . ." Piper drifted off. Then they were both quiet, and they continued dancing with each other. This time, there was no annoying half-sibling or best friend. The soft music still played from Chiron's music player, and Piper finally got her first kiss.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ever since that dreaded day when Emma walked in the Athena cabin and begged everyone for a Valentine's Day dance, Annabeth stayed behind.

Unfortunately, because it was winter break, there was only three people in Cabin 6, including Annabeth. Chiron wanted to go through with Emma's plan, so she was stuck planning out that dumb dance for Valentine's Day.

She would've considered going – that is, if the person she wanted to go with wasn't three thousand miles away with his memory completely wiped.

So while everyone else was dancing with their dates, with friends, or by themselves, Annabeth was stuck by herself near the refreshments table.

It didn't particularly help her mood when Emma approached her, asking her to dance. She politely declines, but Emma wouldn't leave. Annabeth's temper flared and she lashed out at Emma to leave her alone.

So she did. Instead of talking with someone, Annabeth was all alone again. Percy wasn't here with that sarcastic smile asking her to dance. Piper and the others were dancing together. Annabeth was alone with cups of strawberry punch.

That's why she was surprised when Leo approached her. He got down on one knee dramatically and held out his arm. "Would you like to dance, m'lady?"

For a short moment, Annabeth hesitated. Leo wasn't Percy. He wasn't her boyfriend.

She'd down Percy for five years. Five freaking years! They'd grown up together and shared so many adventures. She's laughed _every time_ his voice cracked when he'd gone through puberty when he was 14. Percy knew her better than anyone.

But that didn't matter. Percy was missing. He was gone. Annabeth knew she'd see him soon, in June, but that was in four months. And thinking about it, Annabeth hadn't had much fun in the last 2 months. She'd been too consumed with the search for her ridiculous boyfriend. Annabeth deserved to have some fun.

"Sure, Leo. I'd love to dance."


End file.
